1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable wireless terminals, and more particularly to an antenna device for use with a portable wireless terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, “portable wireless terminals” are mobile communication devices that are portable and enable owners of the devices to wirelessly communicate with partners or mobile communication carriers through base stations. At an initial stage of commercialization, the possible service provided by portable wireless terminals was limited to a simple voice communication service, short message transmitting/receiving service, etc. However, nowadays, the service provided by portable wireless terminals is gradually expanding to include video communication, video clip service, mobile banking, etc. as mobile communication techniques progress.
The portable wireless terminals require an antenna device in order to perform wireless communication with partners and base stations. Moreover, as mobile communication service expands to include multimedia service such as video clip service, performance of the antenna device has become an important measure to determine signal quality of the portable wireless terminals.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a conventional portable wireless terminal 100 having an integrated, protruding antenna device 103. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a sub-body 102 of the portable wireless terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1 slid open.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the antenna device 103 of the portable wireless terminal 100 is extended out of, i.e. protrudes from, the terminal 100.
The portable wireless terminal 100 is a sliding-type terminal, and comprises a main body 101, and the sub-body 102 slidably coupled to the main body 101 so as to longitudinally move thereon. The main body 101 is provided, at a lower region of its front surface, with a keypad 111 in a 3×4 array, and a transmitter module 113, and further provided with the antenna device 103 extending upward from an upper end of the main body 101. At a front surface of the sub-body 102 are provided a display unit 121, a receiver module 123, a keypad 125 consisting of functional keys, and a camera unit 129 for use in video communication and video recording.
It will be recognized that the antenna device 103, which is fixedly mounted to the main body 101, may vary in size to accommodate different antenna lengths, as required according to frequency bands used by mobile communication carriers.
Such conventional antenna devices of the type extending out of a portable wireless terminal, however, have various problems such as increased risk of damage due to external shock, can be inconvenient when carrying the terminal, and limit diversification in design of the terminal.
In order to solve the above problems exhibited by protruded antenna devices, antenna devices have been in the interior of portable wireless terminals, and portable wireless terminals having an internal antenna device are gradually being commercialized.
Although the antenna device extending out of the portable wireless terminal has a risk of damage, presents an inconvenience when carrying the terminal, and limits the options for diversifying the design of the terminal, as stated above, conventional antenna devices mounted so as not to extend out of the terminal, i.e. that do not protrude, present other problems such as degraded performance, as well as degraded transmitting/receiving signal quality due to interference with body parts of a user, such as the user's hands, when in a communication mode.